Football surrenders 14 point lead, falls to Lemont

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Friday night the Bulldogs went into their clash with Lemont planning to win. After the first few minutes it looked as though they would do just that. The energized RB offense got off to a phenomenal start. On the Bulldogs opening drive, senior quarterback Jack VandeMerkt connected with running back Matt Chapp for a 26-yard touchdown pass. At that point it looked like a Senior Night win could be in the cards for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs went right back at it on their following possession, as VandeMerkt hooked up with wide-out Lewis Rogers for a 14-yard touchdown strike, to give the RB a 14-0 lead over Lemont.

The Bulldogs lead, however, would be short lived.

“Our momentum went flat, and we didn’t find a way to bring it back up,” said Rogers.

The Indians went ballistic offensively , as they proceeded to score 44 straight points, crushing any ideas of a Bulldog upset. Lemont’s defense also tightened up. The Indians picked off VandeMerkt three different times. The Dogs’ sloppy play led to their eventual demise.

“Next time we just have to keep our foot on the gas pedal. After we got the lead we kind of started to relax, we can’t let that happen again,” said Rogers.

At the tail end of the game sophomore Ryan Swift got in the game and led the Dogs on an 80-yard touchdown drive. The Bulldog’s reduced the gap, but ultimately fell 44-20.

On Friday, the Bulldogs will travel to Gary, Indiana, to take on the high-octane offense of Gary West Side High School. The Cougars are currently 0-3, however one of the losses was due to forfeit.

The Bulldogs will look to shake off their slow 0-2 start, and build some positive momentum.

“All we can do is focus on West Side, “ said senior tight end Christian Verdin,”The past is the past, there’s nothing we can do about it now.”

The Dogs still have plenty of season left, so there is no reason that the team can’t still have a successful season. But first thing’s first though—beat West Side.